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Investing in wind

Wind blows economic benefits to rural ND

Turbines associated with New Frontier Wind, south of Velva, came online in December 2018. Capital Power’s 99-megawatt project has 29 turbines. Submitted Photo

The capacity for wind energy production in North Dakota reached about 3,153 megawatts at the end of 2018, and figures from the state Public Service Commission show that number could exceed 10,000 megawatts someday with the continued interest being shown in turbine technology.

In comparison, the state supports 4,000 megawatts of lignite and other coal generation at seven plants. One megawatt hour can provide one hour of electricity to about 800 homes.

Tammy Ibach, director for North Dakotans for Comprehensive Energy Solutions, said wind energy can be an economic driver for rural communities. The state now has about 1,600 turbines spread over 27 of the state’s 53 counties. In 2016, North Dakota State University calculated the economic impact of wind energy at that time to be $170 million. A 250-megawatt wind farm over 25 years generates $28 million in tax revenue.

“There’s a lot of talk about what wind energy has done for some of those rural counties,” Ibach said.

Robert Harms, policy adviser for NDCES, said there’s been discussions during this past legislative session about how wind energy should be taxed by the state. In addition to that potential change, a production tax credit for wind energy will expire at the end of this year.

Fifteen years ago, the wind industry would have said without hesitation that its development depended on the federal tax credit, Harms said. Back then, they also would have expected about 30 percent efficiency from its turbines, he added. Today, they get 50 to 60 percent.

“So the efficiency is almost doubled in the last decade in terms of wind farm design. The turbine efficiency and design and the design of the blades all have gotten better, more sophisticated,” Harms said. “They’re ready to do business without the federal treasury supporting them.”

The goal of NDCES is to help North Dakotans understand that the issue isn’t coal versus wind but how the state can use both to sell more electricity to the rest of the country, he said.

North Dakota is an energy-exporting state, and impeding wind development only causes wind investments to move to other states, according to NDCES.

“That wind investment is going to go to Iowa or Nebraska or South Dakota. We lose the investment here and it doesn’t do anything to protect our coal industry,” Harms said.

NDCES also cites a Department of Energy study that determined the reliability of the electric grid isn’t threatened by wind, which is increasingly becoming part of the energy portfolio. In North Dakota, electricity generated from wind increased from nearly zero in 2003 to 21.5 percent in 2016, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Energy Administration.

Northwestern and northcentral North Dakota are targeted for some of the wind energy growth expected in the future. Following are area projects in the planning stages.

Burke County Wind Energy Center

The Burke County Wind Energy Center received county permits, and the PSC held a public hearing March 8 on a siting permit.

Work on the 200-megawatt project southwest of Bowbells is expected to start this year and take six to eight months to complete. The project includes 76 GE turbines over the 22,933 acres of the project. The wind center is expected to be operational in late November.

“We have a lot a community support in the area,” said Conlan Kennedy, communication specialist with the developer, NextEra Energy Resources. “It will bring significant benefits to Burke County.”

The $350 million investment into the project will generate about $28 million in tax revenue and pay out more than $34 million in landowner payments during its lifecycle. Construction will create about 250 jobs, with 12 full-time jobs once operational, according to NextEra.

NextEra has a power purchasing agreement with Basin Electric for Burke County Wind’s supply.

NextEra has been working in North Dakota for almost two decades, Kennedy said. It has invested $2.5 billion in the state and operates 14 projects. The PSC in February approved another NextEra project in Emmons and Logan counties.

Aurora Wind Project

Tradewind Energy has proposed a 300-megawatt wind farm, the Aurora Wind Project, about five miles northwest of Tioga. Located mostly in Williams and Mountrail counties, the wind farm consists of about 44,000 acres involving about 125 owners. Leasing is completed. The project will have up to 121 turbines.

The project has received approval and necessary permits from Williams and Mountrail counties, according to the company. The last remaining permit for development is approval from the North Dakota Public Service Commission, which held a hearing Feb. 25.

Construction is anticipated yet this year, with completion in late 2020.

Ruso Wind Partners

Southern Power reports it is in the early stages of a lengthy process but is actively developing and marketing a site near Ruso, which would include the southeast corner of Ward County. The size of the project is about 35,000 acres. The company states it expects to erect up to 66 turbines and generate up to 205 megawatts. Construction is anticipated to begin as early as third quarter of 2019, and the commercial operation is expected to happen at the end of 2020. A series of public hearings have been scheduled.

Rolette Wind Project

Rolette Power Development is proposing a project covering more than 14,000 acres in Rolette County. The center of the footprint is about five miles south and three miles west of the city of Rolette. It is north of, but not contiguous with, the Iberdrola wind farm, north of Rugby.

Within the footprint, the project is approved for up to 100.4 megawatts, or between 43 and 59 turbines, said local project spokesman Warren Enyart.

Enyart said the project has the necessary permits and was completing the process of obtaining easements this spring.

The issue holding up the project has been lack of a buyer, he said. Having a buyer would determine onto which grid to make application, whether the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator or Western Area Power Administration.

Bringing wind power onto the grid is a complex engineering task with potential impacts on the larger system that would need to be mitigated, so even once a buyer is identified, it will take time for the grid entity to study the application, Enyart said.

Time is a concern because of the pending expiration of available tax credits, Enyart said. The tax credits affect the price of the electricity that Rolette Power Development can put on the market and thus its competitiveness in the market, he explained.

Landowners are pleased with the project but also are concerned that it has languished this long, Enyart said. The project has been in planning six years. There has been an ongoing compilation and assessment of wind resource data since July 29, 2011.

The project development company is a joint venture between M-Power of Finley and Border Power. Each of the two owners is comprised of participating landowners within the respective footprints, local investors and their respective community economic development investors. The 45 landowners who had the authority and signed wind development easements for the Rolette Power Project footprint are shareholders in Border Power.

Another company, EDF Renewable Energy, has shown interest in wind generation south of Minot but has not released any information regarding a potential project.

The PSC lists proposed projects in Adams, Bowman, Logan, Oliver, McIntosh, Dickey, Emmons, Burleigh, Steele, Mercer, Morton, Stark, Barnes and Cass counties as well.

The first permitted wind farm was the 2.6-megawatt Minot Wind Project, placed into service by Basin Electric Power Cooperative in January 2002. The project was expanded with another 4.5 megawatts in 2009.

The most recent wind farm was the 99-megawatt New Frontier Project, placed in service by Capital Power Corp. of Edmonton, Alberta, last December in McHenry County, near Velva.

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